Monthly Archives: February 2013

One of the tasks that seem awkward in Windows 8 is the shutdown and restart process. One of my co-workers, Mark Beleski, had discovered a nice keyboard shortcut today. It’s nothing new, but something that I rarely used.

Alt + F4

If you’re in an application, this usually closes out of the app (in desktop or the start menu modes). However, if Windows Explorer has focus (such as clicking on the task bar), you can press this key combination to get the shutdown dialog box:

Tonight, February 9th, Microsoft is releasing their second tablet, the Surface Pro. Besides the Microsoft diehards, such as myself that will be ordering one within the first few minutes possible, I’m concerned that the masses are unaware. So, to solve my curiosity, I set out to see if I could find the answer for sure.

Stop 1: The Sunday Newspaper Advertisements

My first stop was to check out the Sunday advertisements found in my local newspaper for the week of February 3rd, 2013. Knowing that both Best Buy and Staples will be selling these devices, I assumed that I would at least see a notice stating that the Surface Pro is “coming this Saturday” on the front page. The advertisements contain upcoming video games and other technology products.

I came across the Staples ad first and found this:

So, let’s evaluate what was contained on the front page: an advertisement for the $199 Google Nexus, a $329 HP laptop, paper deals, Turbo Tax, 99 cent earbuds, and a price for the Office 365 Pro subscription. That’s it. Next, I ventured through the pages of the advertisement. Surely I should find something about it tucked inside somewhere. I panned through and found nothing about the Surface Pro. However, I did stumble across a small 1.5” listing for the Surface with Windows RT (which also sported the old Microsoft logo) on the third page which also contained the other Windows 8 machines.

Disappointed, I continued on. The Best Buy advertisement was next. After a scan through this advertisement, neither Surface version was found or even mentioned. Rather, the cover showed 3 Android phones and advertised Sprint, Verizon Wireless, and AT&T.

Stop 2: Super Bowl Advertisements

Each year, the Super Bowl attacks more than 100 million viewers across the United States alone. This year was no different with over 108 million viewers. Knowing that a good portion of those viewers pay more attention to the commercials rather than the game, and with rumors swirling on sites such as Neowin about a potential Microsoft commercial, I was at the edge of my seat looking for a surprise commercial about the Surface Pro. Nothing arrived. Microsoft just lost out on the single largest conduit to informing customers about these new tablets/ultra-books that they have to offer.